Celebrating your birthday in Paris can only get better if you’re an Olympian and you end your day with a big win.
It was certainly a happy birthday for Filipina boxer Aira Villegas after she scored a huge unanimous decision win early Friday morning over African champion and no. 2 seed Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria in their women’s 50kg division round of 16 match at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Official scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 three times, all for the birthday girl who advanced to the quarterfinals and is one win away from a medal.
On her 29th birthday, Villegas used a sharp right jab and quick combinations to frustrate Boualam, a double gold medalist at the African Games who became her country’s first female boxer to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo.
Villegas was clearly the better fighter in the first round, which she swept on all five judges’ scorecards, as the Tacloban native produced the more accurate punches. Boualam turned it up a notch in the second round as Villegas coasted a bit, with three judges scoring it for the Algerian veteran.
But Villegas made sure in the third round as she controlled the action, not allowing Boualam to attack while unleashing scoring combinations that got the nod of all five judges.
Villegas will have the crowd against her, though, in her all-important quarterfinal bout as she takes on hometown bet Wassila Lkhadiri, who eked out a 4-1 split decision over Ireland’s Daina Moorehouse in a spirited contest. The two face off at 3:20 a.m. on Sunday morning Manila time.
Banner Image from AFP.
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